Features Archives - Page 4 of 63 - Circle of Wine Writers

From the Chair: To become a taste expert, move from specific to holistic

Posted on February 28, 2025 by Meg Maker

Circle Chair Meg Maker takes notes from a recent research paper and explores why narrative and imagery might make more of an impact in wine tasting than facts and figures. Wine enthusiasts who want to become better tasters should abandon their keyboards and pick up their crayons. That’s the conclusion of researchers Kathryn Latour and John Deighton in their 2018 Harvard Business School Working Pa...

Let’s stop light strike

Posted on February 28, 2025 by Liz Sagues

Liz Sagues provides her takeaways from the 112th online Circle seminar, in which member Peter Richards MW honed in on what he refers to as the biggest, yet least talked about, wine fault, ending with a pressing call to action. “Light strike is a scandal and we all need to do something about it. It is the biggest wine fault, yet the least talked about.” With that forthright message, Peter Richards...

First-hand feedback on the inaugural Master of Whisky exams

Posted on February 28, 2025February 28, 2025 by Tobias Gorn

Tobias Gorn recounts his experience as exam panel chair at the debuting Council of Whiskey Masters Level 4 Master of Whisky exams. This article is a revised version of an article originally published in World of Whisky and More. It was a great honour to be selected as examination panel chair at the Council of Whiskey Masters first ever Level 4 Master of Whisky exams. This is a report of my experi...

Ancient Andalucian fortifieds still in fine fettle

Posted on February 28, 2025 by Amaya Cervera

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From the Chair: Texture is the new flavour

Posted on January 26, 2025January 31, 2025 by Meg Maker

Meg Maker explores the second sense in wine — texture. For a few days last week, a rhinovirus gripped my system. My normally prismatic sensorium went dark. Flavours were reduced to the basics: salty, sweet, bitter, sour, savory. My morning tea was hot, astringent, wet but curiously drying. A segment of orange was cold and juicy, sweet and sour. Cheese seemed sticky, fatty, salty. Bread was spong...

Perusing a Prosecco pearl

Posted on December 29, 2024 by Dijana Grgić

Dijana Grgić takes off to the bubbling core of the Veneto, to Valdobbiadene, and savours the spumantes from Villa Sandi and prized other members of its porfolio. Over the past couple of decades, Prosecco, which is produced primarily in Veneto as well as in smaller areas of the Friuli region, has seen a surge in global popularity. For a sparkling wine to be labeled as Prosecco, it must be made w...

Something for the holidays

Posted on December 27, 2024 by Ellen Wallace

It’s that time of the year again, when after the mad rush, you are hopefully able to finally settle down to a number of days of relative calm. Your thoughts start to turn to wine and which bottles of your stock to sip during the holiday season. Ellen Wallace provides a touching personal reflection, but one that’s relatable to all, of a wine that not only celebrates the memory of a loved one, share...

From the Chair: Critical thinking skills

Posted on December 23, 2024February 5, 2025 by Meg Maker

Meg Maker defends the right to drink and enjoy cheap fizz, even as an esteemed wine writer, in her column this month. I’ve just returned from London, where I used the excuse of the Circle’s annual Festive Party to justify a week of ogling art, meandering markets, visiting old haunts, and eating and drinking across a wet and windy city. My spouse and I had the good fortune to have a friend’s fla...

Sardinia sparkles

Posted on December 23, 2024 by Nicole Wolbers

Nicole Wolbers discovers how the magical Mediterranean island, which is renowned for its centuries-old wine tradition, is preparing for a bubbly future. Sardinia's winemaking history is impressively ancient, dating back to the Nuragic civilization around 1500 BC. Furthermore, recent archaeological findings suggest that Sardinia may be the oldest known wine-producing region in Europe. The Bronze A...

From the Chair: Cheap and expensive wine words

Posted on November 30, 2024February 5, 2025 by Meg Maker

Are we all subconscious marketers? Meg Maker poses the question in her column this month. Making fun of wine tasting notes is not a new sport; recall Thurber’s 1937 cartoon about the “naïve domestic Burgundy.” But academic research about wine tasting notes is much newer, and it’s being done not only by linguists but also by mathematicians, economists, statisticians, and AI modelers. Such quant...